Before I get into the story, let me first share with you that Daryl Morey (HOU), Sam Presti (OKC), an Danny are my 3 favorite GMs. They’re crafty in their own ways, but all three have an UNCANNY ability to recognize talent in different ways. Morey has been known to find players that are fighters, play with an abnormally large chip on their shoulders, grit out every possession, and understand how to play in a system. Presti just finds the right complimentary players. In time, if he can hold onto his core young guys of Harden, Westbrook, Green, and especially K-Durant, my gosh they are going to be a force. Presti has found some great defensive-minded players and as they mature, they will be great in the middle of the pack team in the West. We know about Danny’s track record with draft picks and trades.

So on Thursday, November 12th, I get an update from Twitter about a new follower. I have trouble trusting my young eyes: Daryl Morey? Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

I immediately investigate, and as it turns out, the freakin’ GM of the Houston Rockets is indeed a new follower. Aside from the fact that he would be my most famous follower, Morey only followed 84 other people at that point. I was part of an elite group.

Yup. For real.

I immediately send Morey a direct message asking if a measly blogger like myself can attend the statistical conference later on next year, and he writes back immediately:

Yup. This is also for real.

Of course, I flatter him a bunch and tell him that he wins the award for being Loscy’s most famous follower. I didn’t ask him how he found me, and I wish I had… because 9 hours later he un-followed me. I was irked by the whole ordeal.

Daryl: what did I do to make you leave?!?!

Then… I started to read my tweets the same day. First, there were probably 65+ tweets in that small window of flattery to depression. Hmmm. Maybe Morey was getting sick of the sheer volume of tweets? Probably not. The dude can remember the NYC skyline and draw it from memory after 1 fly-over in a helicopter (seriously: he did it). His ability to push out the crap and keep the goods kind of dismisses that theory. Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen I started reading my tweets a little bit closer and realized that I sounded like a child. Some foul language. Some bad jokes.

Ugh.

Daryl: did you leave me (ie, unfollow me on Twitter) because of the content of my tweets, volume of tweets, or both? Most of them were re-tweets. It wasn’t even my material! I was re-gifting!

AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I was consoled by my wife: “It’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all”.
She was so right. So right.

But it still hurts.

Daryl: I promise to be a better Twitter member if you come back.
Now I’m begging.

How pathetic is this?

Would I be this way if the Celtics had won the last 2 nights?

What’s become of me?!?!?!?!?!?!?

DARYL!!!!!!

—

Torched by Granger.

We didn’t play sloucher teams. We played a young team that we’ve had many close games with and that was simply hungrier than us. On Friday night, Atlanta out-hustled, out-rebounded, out-swaggered, and flatly out-played us. We got killed on second chance points (20-4) and b*tch-slapped off the glass. The very next night, a young team that is playing pretty well torched us in the second half when our defense fell asleep, everything they threw up found its way to the bottom of the net, and our shots were getting stuck between the rim and backboard.

The common denominator in both losses? Young… teams. We have looked slow, old, and a bit out of rhythm. We forced passes. We weren’t playing good transition defense. We had a tough, tough schedule early on (8 in 12) and our current skid, no doubt, is a byproduct of the early going. It is a funk. It will pass.

What about some radical lineups to start the game in Indy? Why not rest Pierce if he was a game-time decision? Why not start Rondo, Ray, Quisy, Shelden, and Perk? Eh.

It is a funk. It will pass.

I’m not going to hinge the entire season on the last two nights. There is plenty to learn from the games, and the coaching staff will figure it out with the players. But at the same time, should we be worried… at least a little bit? We’ve gone from looking invincible to very vulnerable (sort of like last year after the Lakers game on X-Mas day?)

Ouch. Now that right there has got to sting. I’ve gotta admit — I’ve always admired the work Daryl has done, but I like what I see more over in Memphis. Chris Wallace is the man. Just kidding.

All joking aside, I have RC Buford > Morey simply because of the championships. Yeah injuries are a factor, but I’ve ALWAYS liked the role players pieced on the Spurs better, and I’m sure as hell going to take Manu, Timmy, and Parker, over Tracy, Yao and *insert Houston’s one-year star here* all day every day. The fact that they’ve bolstered their roster with Richard Jefferson and Houston basically through away their remaining title years only makes the argument stronger.

But still, this is Daryl Morey, the statistical genius. I’ll give you a pat on the back for just turning his head for a few hours.

Yeah Buford is pretty good. Doesn’t hurt that he has the genius of basketball (Pop) on his side whispering sweet nothings in his ear.
Yao is a franchise player. T-Mas was damn near close to a franchise player. I think about Aaron Brooks. I think about Shane Battier. I think about Carl Landry. I think about Kyle Lowry. I think about Chuck Hayes. I think about Luis Scola. Not to mention the guys he lost after last year like Von Wafer.

The pieces above are KEY role players.

The Spurs philosophy for a long time was to be happy with 4 guys on the bench that will never play. Houston gets everything they can out of the guys they put on their team.

Great points. The Finley acquisition and scrappy ugly big men like Matt Bonner often go unnoticed, but I won’t disagree with you that Houston’s role plays certainly stand out more. The Spurs are the team that go more for chemistry and past histories on the court as opposed to Houston, who really glues their eyes to the paper and the tapes.

Plus, Rick Adelman isn’t a valued coach as Pop is? I know Pop has a bit of advantage, but Rick is starting to look a bit like Jerry Sloan over there!

FInley was great. Roger Mason was great. The Horry years were great. Both TX teams are great teams to cheer for… but I think the philosophy is both different and the same. In terms of overall depth from guys 1-15, Houston has the advantage. In terms of top 3 players, SA has Houston beat by a long shot. SA head and shoulders has a bigger wallet than that of Houston, which puts Morey at a slight disadvantage. Not to mention the top 2 paying guys on the team aren’t playing.

Adelman is good. I don’t know enough about him, but I know he gets players to listen to him. That’s a start.
I have a soft spot for Pop– I think he is the closest thing we have to this generation’s Red Auerbach. I am in NO WAY saying that Pop is on Red’s level, but Pop is arguably the best coach and damn good exec since Red.

Loscy • A Celtics Blog

Loscy is a columnist's approach to gritty blogging about the Boston Celtics, with plenty of mixed digital media executed with the perfect Xs & Os supplanting all heart and hustle with minimal muscle. Contact at green.eighteen@gmail.com

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JIM LOSCUTOFF

"Loscy" was a hard-nosed standout for the Celtics, playing all nine NBA seasons with the Green and White...Helped lead the Celtics to seven NBA world championship titles, including six straight from 1958 through 1963-64...Had, perhaps, his best season in 1956-57 in helping lead the Celtics to their first title, by averaging 10.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game...He asked that his jersey number (#18) not be retired so that a future Celtic could wear it - the number 18 was later retired in honor of Dave Cowens. (from celtics.com history)